Hello and welcome to a festive post where I am going to be sharing some of the ornaments that are hanging on my tree. I thought it would be fun to pick a few at random while I was decorating and share the story attached to or the memory associated to them.
Snoopy
Snoopy Ornament on Tree
Every holiday in my house growing up had a snoopy decoration somewhere. My Mom absolutely loves snoopy and has for as long as I can remember. So of course there is a snoopy on my tree to represent my mom. Every time I see snoopy, she is the first person who pops into my head and I remember all the lovely memories we share.
Knitting Needles Stuck in a Ball of Green and White Yarn
Ball of Yarn with Knitting Needles Ornament on Tree
This ornament was a gift and I absolutely love it. Not only does it represent one of my favorite hobbies, but it has my favorite color green! In 2021 I decided to give knitting a shot and it really has become a large part of my life. It has helped me carve out some relaxing and meditative time each day and I am able to get something at the end of it to wear or gift to someone, I love this because my friend saw how much this hobby meant to me and I really appreciated it.
Knitted Red Mushroom
Red and White Mushroom Ornament
Before I even knitted, one of my friends gave me this cute little mushroom as a gift to place on my tree. Since then it has been placed in a prominent place on the tree. First, because this is just so dang adorable and it was this friend that gave me the courage to try knitting. Also, she is just so super talented because I could never make something this small and detailed!
Hello and welcome my perfect free winter day! Today I am going to take some time to share what I would do if I could plan my perfect winter day. This even incudes the weather, which as we know doesn’t always cooperate. As you read this, I hope you are having a wonderful day and even your own perfect day!
Morning
My perfect morning would include waking up without an alarm to see a light dusting of snow on the ground. I don’t enjoy where there is a ton of snow, but just enough to see its beauty without the mess. After waking up to my own natural alarm clock I would start my day with a cup of coffee, an audiobook, and some knitting. I truly love when I can just ease into the day. As I am knitting I am cuddled up on the couch or chair with a big fluffy blanket and a view of the snow covered yard and trees.
Afternoon
Later on in the day, I would have a really wonderful sandwich that someone else made for me with some potato chips. I don’t know about you, but there are two things I always think taste better when someone else makes it. The first being a sandwich and the second being popcorn. I am not sure why this is the case of me, but it is. For the rest of the afternoon I would be happy spending time with my loved ones, continuing to craft, or reading to my hearts content.
Evening
After dinner and the days activities, I would love to end my day sitting on the couch with my significant other in front of the fire place to keep toasty as the temperature outside begins to drop as the sun sets. We will be sipping on warm hot chocolate made on the stove top with some milk and mix. Other than that I am happy to be listing to a podcast together, playing a game, or just watching something on TV together. Then once we finish our hot chocolate it is time to go to bed.
If I had a free day with nothing planned, I would plan a day that was slow, calm, and allowed me to enjoy the environment around me. I enjoy days where it is not chaotic or go, go, go. I like being able to take a breath and truly appreciate the world and those around me. I think this is why my two biggest hobbies reading and knitting allow a bit of meditative quality. Now, I know that everyone enjoys different things and other people may enjoy a bit more adventure in their perfect winter day. As for me, I enjoy taking a breath and relaxing in my own space.
Hello and welcome to a little post where I am sharing some ways I destress during the holiday season. I know this time of year is meant to be a happy one, but I also feel like a lot of pressure comes with it, especially if you are hosting anything. I know for me, I make presents and sometimes I get close to my deadlines or I feel like I need to do more. The truth is, at least for me, I feel like this time of year is sometimes built up a little too much and has some very high expectations of baking cookies, finding the perfect present, and a lot of social gatherings. Don’t get me wrong they are fun, but is those are exhausting as well. I feel like with all of that going on sometimes we just need to try and take care of ourselves and remember that this is about having fun and not about being picture perfect. With that in mind, here is what I do to destress when I have a spare moment.
Watch a favorite movie
Put on music and just enjoy it, you can even sing along and dance if you want
Do a 5 min. meditation
Go for a walk
Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the decorations
Go on a drive and see the lights in your neighborhood
Take a few deep breaths
Break tasks down into smaller parts
Look at to-do list and remove things that are not something you need to or really want to do
Take a nap, even a small cat one
Take some time to do something selfish, even for a half hour
So those are some of the ways that I destress during the holidays, mind you these are what I do and I am no professional. This is just what I notice helps me when things get a bit overwhelming during this time of the year. I do hope that you are and continue having a wonderful month and enjoying the season and are not stressing too much.
Hello and welcome to my blog! Today I am going to take a moment to share some of the books I took with my on vacation! I don’t know about you, but I love reading on vacation. The new environment is just a wonderful place to get lost in a book. This summer I decided to only take a select few, even though I wanted to fill my suitcase with only books. Anyway, here are the books I decided to take with me!
Picture of Lapvona hardcover and I’m Glad My Mom Died on eReader
Lapvona: A Novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, I recently picked this book up when visiting a local bookstore that is a mixture of new and used books. I picked this up because of the unusual cover and read the description and it sounded very interesting. It seems like this books is going to be a mixture of fiction and fantastical, but also a little bit of horror.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, I enjoyed watching her on tv when I was younger and honestly I saw she was coming out with a book a while ago and knew I wanted to read it before really knowing how dark the topics within the book were going to be. From my understanding, her mother and her did not have a great relationship (I mean read that title!) and was taken advantage of. I am glad that she has written her story and I look forward to learning more about her personal life in her own words.
Hello and welcome to my little spot on the internet Today I am going to take a moment to share with you my new eReader. My last one, which you can read about here: Let’s Talk | 6 Month Review of Kobo Libra H2O, was one I really loved. Unfortunately, that one has ended up malfunctioning. It was constantly getting stuck in a bootloop and I was not able to use it consistently. So, it was time to move on and get a new one, especially since I have recently had to downsize my book collection to about a forth of what it was. I am planning to really shift to digital books because my lack of space, but I do have about 13 physical books still on my shelf waiting to me to read.
Kindle paperwhite signature edition box
Now, my past eReader was a kobo and I absolutely loved that thing and how easy it was to work with my local library. So, you might be thinking, “why is there a picture of a kindle there?”. Well, with a lot of thought I ended up going back to kindle. There was a lot of thought that went into it, but here are really the main points.
I really loved my Libra H2O, sadly Kobo does not make the model I fell in love with and to be honest I was not really thrilled with the newer models they were coming out with. I went with this model for the physical buttons, backlight, and screen size. They do have a similar model, but it was more money with not a lot of differences for me to personally pay more. The next reason was not being able to go to a store and get a giftcard to buy books. I try to spend within a budget so this is the easiest way to manage how much I spend on books. When I got my kobo I read I could get giftcard at a store, but that is no longer an option. Lastly, the integration with my library was a huge selling point because getting kindle books was so difficult at the time I was buying my last. In recent years, this has changed.
So with all of that in mind I looked at some alternatives and settled on a Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. It has a similar size screen, I can buy gift cards to load on my account to buy books if I wanted to, and my library has a ton of great books I can load it with. I also had the ability to wait for a very good sale and ended up getting a bundle and saving money.
Contents of the box, kindle paperwhite signature edition, quick start guide, charger/sync cable
So, I made my tough decision, I actually thought about it over a month and waited for a good sale to finally pick it up. I ended up getting the ad free version with my bundle because, well I didn’t want ads on something I own. Inside the box came a quick start guide and a cable to charge the devise via USB or sync with something on my computer. But, my bundle came with a wireless charger stand and a cork cover as well that came in a different box. I have never had anything with wireless charing so I have been having a blast with this, but to be honest I have only needed to charge it once so far and I have had it over a month at the point of writing this. Not to bad!
Holding kindle ereader showing covers of current reads and knitting on lap at the beach. Current Reads: The House Across the Lake, Ninth House, Billy Summers,
I have already bought this eReader out and about with me. I have bought it on a few trips to the beach, it lives in my bag, and has even gone on vacation with me already. It has worked marvelously, I was a little worried about the sun and the screen getting funky at the beach, but all was well. I have found the size to be good for me and the auto backlight is pretty on point as well. I will say the sleep button would have been nice on top because it can be a bit awkward at times to wake up the device. I also have read that people have put their devices to sleep on accident while reading, thankfully I have not done that, but I can understand how annoying it is. As with my previous eReader I will do a bit of an update once I have used it for longer, but for now I am happy with my purchase and look forward to a bunch of reading!
Hello and welcome to a bit of a planning post where I am going to share the crochet and knitting projects I would love to finish this winter. I am on really good footing to start any project I want right now due to the fact I have no WIPs going into 2022, which has not happened in years. So, I feel like a kid in a candy shop and spoiled for choice. Thankfully, I was able to narrow it down to 5 projects I really would love to start working on and hopefully finish before Winter is through.
This first pattern I actually bought yarn for back in the Summer of 2021 when I was visiting family in Maine. I really want to finish this ASAP and hopefully I can wear it the next time I see those family members. The yarn that I picked up for this project is Berroco Providence in the color Rosecliff – 1115.
This pair of socks is actually for my significant other. I had him pick a yarn for me to use and it finally arrived! I am so excited to get to make these for him, I just need to figure out the stitches needed and I am going to have to keep bugging him to try them on as I go to ensure I am making them to properly fit. This will be the first socks I am making for someone else. The yarn that he picked for this pair of socks is Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in the color Ultramarine Violet, which is a really vibrant purple that I swear is going to glow in the dark.
This pair of socks is going to be for me. I have never worn tube socks or made them so I wanted to experiment a bit. I used this “pattern” to come up with my own formula of sorts for the ones I am going to be making. This pattern, which is actually a blog post was really helpful in doing that going through different options etc. The yarn I am using for this pattern is Spun Right Round Classic Sock in the color Sly Fox, which is almost like a burn orange.
This is another selfish creation, I was lucky enough to be gifted a new jacket so I need to make a new cowl to go with it. I saw this pattern first mentioned by Knitty Natty and her looked beautiful and she said it was pretty simple to make. It is the first time I will be knitting something with a pattern of sorts so it will be an experiment as well! I am using yarn died by the etsy shop LanternLightYarn in the color Kraken, which is a red color with variations and Drops Kid-Silk in the color 14, which is red as well, held together to create this winter accessory.
This last one is really a project I know is going to take me a lot of time and challenge me a lot. I am putting it at the bottom of this list because I really want to work on the other projects and continue to work on the basics before jumping into making a sweater. That being said, the stiches that are used in this I have already used a bunch, but making a sweater I feel like is a huge step. I am using the recommended yarn, Lion Brand Chainette, in the color mustard, which seems to now be discontinued even though I only bought it a month or so ago. I hope I bought enough to finish it!
Hello and welcome to a short post talking about the books I recently took with me when going out of state for the first time since everything went haywire in 2020. My household and I stayed in the middle of the woods, it was great to see different scenery and be in the middle of nature. Something I have not been able to do for a long time. Anyway, here is a list of the books I bought with me to read in the woods!
What I Took
Later by Stephen King
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
What I Read
Later by Stephen King, finished, paperback, pictured
This is the first book I finished on vacation. I have a tradition of reading a King novel whenever I go away and this short one was perfect and did not disappoint. It was a great of traditional monsters in Kings writing. This book took it a bit further and sadly showed the monsters that humans can be as well. I read it within two days and I could not put it down once it really got going. I also really liked them POV that was used for this novel. I think it really lent itself to what King was going for.
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami, finished, ebook, not pictured
I don’t want to say too much about this novel because I am going to do a whole separate post about it soon. I will say that I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories and was great to bring with me when I went on a walk or just sat outside for a bit.
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor by Donald J. Robertson, started, paperback, pictured
As the heading says, I only started to read this book, but I will say I am really enjoying it. I decided that I wanted to take my time with this one and not rush too much because I think I could take a lot from this and I don’t want to miss out on anything. I am about 88 pages into it and looking forward to reading more soon.
Classic Bhaer 